CABLESEither JPS Superconductor+ and FX interconnects and a double run of JPS
Ultraconductor speaker cables, or Analysis Plus interconnects and Oval 12 speaker cables,
and Monarchy and various DIY AC cords.

It was good fortune running into Robert
Stein of Ultra Systems at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. Unlike
most of the displays at CES, Mr. Stein's display was understated to say
the least. While Ultra Systems had only a few items for sale, those
items will make a big impact on one's system as I later found out. Ultra
Systems is in the wholesale business with such products as the HiFi
Tuning Fuses, Cathedral Sound Acoustics, and the Audio Desk System. They
are in the retail business in conjunction with the Cable Company. This
review concerns the HiFi-Tuning Silver/Gold Fuses. Turning to their
website and the product page for the fuses, we find a light hearted but
informative page. "Lite a fuse! Do your components use 5-cent fuses? Can
there be any doubt that this is a ‘choke point' in the performance of
these components? GET READY FOR THE BIG BANG!" Yes by now, word on these
types of fuses should have been spread out over the audiophile community
like gossip in an aerospace plant. If I am not mistaken, there are
several other fuses of this type being produced in the world, but let's
get this straight: HiFi-Tuning Fuses are tested and hand made in
Germany. They have gold over silver end-cap construction. They are made
with pure silver wiring. They have a ceramic casing that is said to have
better resonance characteristics than glass. So what's that you say? Why
should I spend from $29.95 to $34.95 on a fuse when the ones that came
with the equipment do the job? In that case why don't you just use the
power cord and interconnects that came with it too! The money saved
would've been gargantuan compared to spending thirty bucks a pop for a
few fuses …right?

Ultra Systems stocks quite a variety of fuse
values, but before you order them, do your homework and make sure you
know exactly the value and size you need. This will place the
responsibility of finding the specific information YOU need for YOUR
equipment on YOU—not Mr. Stein. Believe me, Mr. Stein is one of the
kindest and most patient men I have encountered in this business. But,
after expressing in an email my frustration in finding information on a
little bitty old fuse from manufacturers, authorized service centers, or
electronics repair shops, I ended up getting the right info from Radio
Shack when everybody else failed to help. Do everybody involved a favor,
and have your ducks in a row before you call.

Two other products were used first before
the Ultra Fuses were installed in any of my components. First, I used
Flitz Metal Cleaner and Polish to clean all the fuse's points of
contact. This was not possible in all cases due to the awkward positions
of some of the fuse holders. The flimsy build quality of some of the
fuse holders also made it hard to give the holders a good scrubbing with
a dab of Flitz on the end of a cotton swab. Second, I cleaned everything
that had been rubbed with Flitz with Progold Contact Enhancer to remove
all unwanted residues from the contact points—to make the cleanest
contact possible.

Prior to this, I listened to my system for a
few days without the Ultra Fuses installed. Then I installed the two
Ultra Fuses that are required in my Margules U280SC amplifier. I then
listened to every source my system had plugged into it, removed and
replaced the Ultra Fuses with the original fuses, and listened to some
music through my CD player. It didn't take a week of listening, let
alone an hour, to hear a difference between the two types of fuses. You
didn't even have to strain to hear the differences; they were "slap you
in the face obvious" the minute the original issue El Cheapo fuses were
installed back into my tube amp. The 5-cent fuses brought an immediate
flattening of the sound around the mid to upper mid range. Along with
this flattening came a slight but obvious brittleness and brightness to
the vocals that made "ch" sounds, sound more whitish and again flatter.
I was shocked! How could my well-designed and expensive High-End
equipment be emitting these nasty sounds, especially from my tube amps!
There was also a slight flattening of the soundstage and a feeling that
it was caving in upon itself.

Being the audio gear head that I am, I
started to get dirty audio thoughts. Maybe that experiment was the
phenomenon of system synergy. Maybe it was just chance that the Margules
amp worked well with the Ultra Fuses. To cover the bases I ordered fuses
to outfit my Antique Sound Labs monoblock tube amps, my Monarchy SM-70
Class A solid-state amp, and even my highly modified Pioneer DV-414 DVD
player. Mr. Stein was even kind enough to send a full compliment of four
fuses to replace the stock fuses in the Art Audio Quartet mono block
amps that I had in for
review. I went down the line with each piece of
equipment and repeated the "cleaning" steps mentioned above.

Initially only one fuse was changed in the
Monarchy, which was the AC input fuse, as I had ordered the wrong
size/value. There are two DC rail fuses and two output fuses inside the
SM-70, but with just one fuse changed—the AC input fuse—there was an
across the board improvement in the sound. When the other four fuses
arrived—which proved to be a little challenging in installing them—the level of sonic performance rose quite appreciably. Then in went the
Ultra Fuses in the Antique Sound Labs mono blocks. This installation
proved a little more of a challenge due to the bottom plate having to be
removed each time. Remember that there are high voltages under the hood
of a tube amp.

One would think that changing the fuses in
an amp like the Art Audio Quartets would hardly amount to much of a
difference, but it did notably change these $12,000 beauties' sound,
mirroring what I had heard when installed in the Margules U280SC.
Finally after ordering the wrong size (again) for my Pioneer DV-414
player (I told you Mr. Stein was patient) the right size and value
arrived for my digital disk spinner. But it was too late. My trusty old
and highly modified Musical Concepts Pioneer DV-414 bit the dust, ate
it, and went Kaput after many years of service with nary a hiccup.
Although the new PS Audio Digital Link Digital Converter took over
digital duties, (review to come) an Ultra Fuse could not be used in my
digital front end. Fortunately, all note taking, music listening and
partying had been accomplished on the amps before that old player
departed to Hi-Fi heaven. The PS Audio unit more than makes up for the
loss.

In describing the sonic benefits of the
Ultra Fuses some key words in the Real Feedback Section (of the featured
products page of the Cable Company) strongly mirrored my own findings.
The words liquid, natural, and less electronic are very accurate in
describing the sonic benefits of these little gems. There was also a
slight improvement in focus across the frequency spectrum. The music
shifted to a more natural and whole presentation; as opposed to flat,
artificial or bright. Couple this to the benefits described above—sweeter more dimensional mid range, bass slightly more fleshed out and a
tad more solid—and you just raised the performance of your system many
times more than the cost of the fuses.

One thing I would like to emphasize is that
with so many silver and gold fuses in my system at once, never did the
sound become bright, thin, or strident in any way. In fact, the opposite
was true. In the case of the Monarchy with five fuses installed, the
sound incrementally grew better. So in the case of my system, more
definitely equated to better with the Ultra Fuses. I can't say exactly
what the Ultra Fuses will do for your system and components, but trying
them in as many components as I did gave me a good idea of the
consistent and reliable performance of these fine products. In the past
couple of years, without question some pretty great accessories have
enhanced the performance of my system; companies such as Gingko Audio
and Stillpoint. I can definitely add the Ultra Fuses as a permanent and
irreplaceable part of that equation that definitely brings me closer to
the music. Francisco Duran